Annual Report 2011-2012 Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2012 Table of Contents Annual Report 2011-2012 2011-2012:Highlights ................................................................................................................... 3 Programming Research ................................................................................................................................ 4 Patriation Negotiations Conference ......................................................................... 4 Research Fellow ........................................................................................................ 6 Publications .............................................................................................................. 6 o Journals ....................................................................................................... 7 o Books ........................................................................................................... 8 Public Legal Education .......................................................................................................... 8 Website .................................................................................................................... 9 Speakers and Events ................................................................................................. 10 o Speakers ...................................................................................................... 10 o Annual McDonald Lecture ........................................................................... 11 o Law Day ....................................................................................................... 11 Documentary ............................................................................................................ 12 Media Resource and Expert Commentary ............................................................... 12 Collaborations .......................................................................................................... 13 Other ...................................................................................................................................... 13 Laskin Moot..................................................................................................................... 13 Organizational and Funding Structure Accountability ........................................................................................................................ 14 Board ...................................................................................................................................... 14 Staff ........................................................................................................................................ 14 Funding .................................................................................................................................. 15 Thanking our Contributors ........................................................................................................ 16 Appendix A - Board of Directors - Biographical Information ............................................................. 19 Appendix B - Patriation Negotiations Conference Program .............................................................. 22 Appendix C - Tables of Contents for Review issues 15.2, 16.1 and 16.2 ........................................... 24 Centre for Constitutional Studies: 2011-2012 Report 2 2011-2012: Highlights There is no more important legal document in Canada than the Constitution. It is the foundation for who we are and how we govern ourselves as a political society. The work of the Centre for Constitutional Studies is about conveying the importance of constitutions to Albertans as well as to the broader Canadian and international publics. The Centre’s events and activities of 2011-2012 allowed it to be a hub connecting the University of Alberta, academics across the country and the Alberta public on issues of constitutional importance. It was a banner year and we enjoyed considerable success with respect to making the Constitution relevant to Albertans. Highlighting the year, the Patriation Negotiations Conference commemorated the November 1981 negotiations that led to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and to the patriation of our Constitution on April 17, 1982. This 30th anniversary event brought together key figures who participated in that tension-filled meeting to discuss the event and to assess its consequences. Former premiers, the Hon. Peter Lougheed, Hon. John Buchanan and Hon. Brian Peckford were joined by their colleague, the Hon. Roy Romanow along with several key civil servants and advisors from the period. Constitutional scholars from across Canada provided analysis as to what led to this historic and fateful meeting. The conference was attended by members of the public, scholars, public servants and students in law and political science. Our Senior Research Fellow, Professor Howard Leeson, completed The Patriation Minutes which was published by the Centre and launched in November at the Patriation Negotiations conference. The book is a record of the notes taken by Professor Leeson during the negotiations of November, 1981. No other record of those discussions exists and 30 years later, Professor Leeson’s account, along with his observations on the key players in the process is now available. The Centre published three issues of its academic journal, the Review of Constitutional Studies. One of these, Volume 16.2 was a special issue marking the ten-year anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, 2001. It featured the critical theoretical and practical perspectives of legal scholars, political scientists and sociologists who have worked on security and rights and asked them to reflect on what has taken place in various rights regimes in this ten year, post 9/11 time frame. Constitutional Forum, which provides the opportunity for interdisciplinary debate and dialogue on constitutional issues, began a new life as an online, open access journal. As an online publication, the Forum can now be published throughout the year. For the first time, the Centre actively participated in Law Day, an annual event organized by the Canadian Bar Association to celebrate and commemorate our nation's adoption of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Two law students argued a mock appeal before a Court of Queen’s Bench justice. The constitutional case involved the public’s right to be protected against police efforts to search and seizure garbage that had been left in the back lane of a home. As the appeal was performed for a public audience, it was an outstanding teachable moment on the scope of the Charter’s section 8 protection. Centre for Constitutional Studies: 2011-2012 Report 3 Programming Research The Centre’s Research Program is intended to serve the academic community and the broader public to expand our understanding of constitutional issues. To this end, the Centre facilitates research projects, organizes conferences and symposia, hosts speakers and publishes journals and books. The Centre’s Research Program objectives are: 1. To create and maintain a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary Centre for the study of constitutional issues at the University of Alberta; 2. To facilitate research on constitutional issues; 3. To provide an avenue for publication of high quality, peer reviewed research papers by publishing the Review; 4. To organize conferences, symposia, workshops and lectures which provide an opportunity for academics to collaborate and to further academic thought on constitutional issues of relevance to the courts, the public and policy makers. Patriation Negotiations Conference – November 3-5, 2011 The Patriation Negotiations Conference held November 3-5, 2011 at the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald in Edmonton was the highlight of the Centre’s 2011-2012 year. The conference commemorated the 30th anniversary of the November 1981 negotiations that led to the patriation of our Constitution on April 17, 1982. The conference was a gathering of former premiers, public servants and political advisors, who engaged in examining the negotiations of November, 1981 that led to a final deal - one that included a Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the amending formula which finally allowed Canada to patriate its Constitution from Britain. It was also, significantly, a deal that the Province of Quebec refused to sign. Participants: Many of the participants in the patriation negotiations process of 1981 presented at the conference to set the record straight - to tell their stories about what actually happened the fateful night of November 4th and in the early morning hours of November 5th, 1981. Attendees heard different stories about the ‘night of the long knives’ and the impact of the ‘kitchen accord’ and the ‘Newfoundland proposals’ on the final deal. Former premiers Hon. Peter Lougheed, Hon. Brian Peckford, Hon. John Buchanan and their colleague Hon. Roy Romanow, former Minister of Centre for Constitutional Studies: 2011-2012 Report 4 Intergovernmental Affairs for the Province of Saskatchewan, weighed in with their recollections and observations on the process and on its impact. They were joined by Deputy Ministers from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec, special constitutional advisors to the Government of Canada and drafters of the final deal. Some of the best and brightest constitutional scholars from across Canada analysed the road to patriation, Trudeau's